1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an ink cartridge for supplying ink to a recording head of an inkjet recording apparatus, an inkjet printer, or the like, and an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with the ink cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been liquid ejectors for use as inkjet recording apparatuses and inkjet printers that print on paper and the like by ejecting ink droplets. A typical inkjet printer is equipped with a replaceable ink cartridge. In most cases, once the ink cartridge becomes empty, a new ink cartridge filled with ink is loaded to replace the empty ink cartridge. The empty ink cartridge is not reused, which is not cost effective. In view of that, Patent Document 1 discloses an ink cartridge including a housing that is rigid enough to protect an ink bag, which is filled with ink, accommodated therein for protection from impact during delivery. This ink cartridge is designed to allow replacement of the ink bag. Patent Document 2 discloses an ink cartridge having a refill port through which ink is resupplied.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-50823
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-305863
The ink cartridges disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, however, have various drawbacks and have not come into wide use.
For example, according to Patent Document 1, the housing of the ink cartridge, which is formed with the use of screws or bonding, is disassembled for replacing the ink cartridge accommodated in the housing. The ink cartridge disclosed in Patent Document 2 is disadvantageous in that refilling with ink is time-consuming and may cause contamination. The newly supplied ink is mixed with the ink remaining in the cartridge, resulting in lowering the ink quality.